News Analysis: Student Voters Can Impact Elections

As young adults navigate their academic journey and life, their exposure to political ideas and opportunities for civic engagement is a very important way to set them up for a lifetime of active citizenship.

An objective of many higher learning institutions is to help students get involved in carrying out their civic duties, and one of the ways this is achieved is when students engage in voting, not just in school elections but also in local, state, and federal elections. To ensure the election of a competent candidate, citizens must carry out their social responsibility of voting.

However, voting does more, for college students especially. By engaging in this civic duty, students tend to become more informed about current issues and involved in public and social groups, which in turn fosters greater levels of civic activities that extend beyond the ballot box.

The National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement (NSLVE) is an organization committed to carrying out research to help colleges and universities understand their student registration and voting rates, with the goal of helping the colleges and universities understand their student voting habits.

Recently, it organized a study on the student voter participation rate of Tulsa Community College students over the course of three elections — 2018, 2020, and 2022 elections. The study revealed that the voting rate of TCC students in 2018 was 31.8%, in 2020, it was 50.6%, and in 2022, it was 23.9%.



Source: National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement (NSLVE) Campus Report. Student Voting Rates for Tulsa Community College, NSLVE Democracy Counts 2018: Increased Student and Institutional Engagement, NSLVE Democracy Counts 2020: Record-Breaking Turnout and Student Resiliency, and NSLVE Democracy Counts 2022: Student Engagement in a Midterm Year.


Over the three different elections, TCC experienced a rate of 7.9% decrease in student voters who engaged in the mid-term elections of 2018 and 2022. This reduction in turnout was not unique to TCC alone. NSLVE also found that the national student voting rate for all institutions during the 2018 election was 40.3%, during the 2018 election it was 66%, and in the 2022 election, it was 31.3%, a 9% reduction in student voters nationally who engaged in the mid-term elections of 2018 and 2022.

Student engagement in elections can have a significant impact on the tides of the elections. TCC has actively promoted civic engagement among its students. The TCC Center for Community and Learning is one of the departments advocating for increased participation of student voters in elections.

In an interview with Dr. Dewayne Dickens, senior director of the Center for Community & Learning, he explained that the Center for Community and Learning, like other departments in TCC, seeks to encourage increased student voter participation. To do this, the department helps create awareness of student voter patterns over the years and the effect greater levels of student voter participation could have on local, state, and federal government. It also provides student voters with useful information on how to register to vote.

When asked about why the vote of TCC students could significantly impact the tide of the upcoming elections, Dr. Dickens said, “first of all, we have over 15,000 students, and if all of them voted, their voices would be heard and that’s a pretty big acknowledgement that their votes count if they just register and vote.”

Giving an example using the most recent mayoral general election in Tulsa, he explained that the difference between the candidate who emerged as winner and the first runner-up was 272 votes.

If they voted just a thousand more… if they were united behind a single person or a single bill, that’s enough to change the outcome,” said Dickens.

Dr. Dickens added that this year’s elections will be very significant.

“This is an important election, whether we’re talking local or federal.”

However, he commented that the voting rates in this year’s election will be based on “the level of enthusiasm,” and an increased voting rate “requires that people are enthused enough to vote… They recognize that their voice matters, and even when they don’t vote, it still is counting for the side that’s winning, even though it may not match what they want.”

It may not seem so significant, but student voters have a very serious role to play in the outcomes of elections and in turn, the situation in their communities. Elections for local offices can be decided with a matter of a few votes, and these local offices have a direct impact on the students’ home and college communities.

In the same way, the impact of student voters is also felt nationally. According to the Campus Vote Project, in 2014, young adults (ages 18-29) accounted for about 21% of the eligible voting population. If students are positioned properly, they could play a big role in deciding who is elected to office and ensure that their homes, schools, communities, states, and country are well governed.

For more information, visit the following references:

Fair Elections Center’s Campus Vote Project. (2024). Why Student Voters Matter. https://campusvoteproject.org/why-student-voters-matter/

Gismondi, A., Nelsen, M., German, M., Tse, V., & d’Urso, A. S. (2024). Democracy Counts 2022: Student Engagement in a Midterm Year. Tufts University Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life. https://tufts.app.box.com/v/democracy-counts-2022

Thomas, N., Gismondi, A., Gautam, P., & Brinker, D. (2021). Democracy Counts 2020: Record-Breaking Turnout and Student Resiliency. Tufts University Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life. https://tufts.app.box.com/v/democracy-counts-2020

Thomas, N., Gismondi, A., Gautam, P., & Brinker, D. (2019). Democracy Counts 2018: An Analysis of Student Participation. Institute for Democracy & Higher Education. Tufts University Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life.https://tufts.app.box.com/v/idhe-democracy-counts-2018

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